Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child

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An Unearthly Child first aired on 23 November 1963. Season 1, Episodes 1–4 (Story 1). Written by Anthony Coburn. Directed by Waris Hussein. Starring William Hartnell as the Doctor, Carole Ann Ford as Susan Foreman, William Russell as Ian Chesterton, and Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright.

This serial launched Doctor Who on the BBC as a family adventure that mixed education with drama. The producers wanted a show that could visit the past for history and the future for science ideas.

Verity Lambert, the first producer, and Waris Hussein, the director, gave the opening episode a sharp, modern style. Its eerie school corridors, the junkyard at 76 Totter’s Lane, and the strange police box created a mood of mystery. The serial then moved to the Stone Age, where survival, leadership, and ethics were at the centre. These two halves. present-day mystery and prehistoric struggle, set the pattern for varied adventures that followed.

Episode 1: An Unearthly Child

At Coal Hill School in London, teachers Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton are puzzled by their student Susan Foreman. She is brilliant in some subjects but ignorant or eccentric in others. Curious, they follow her home to a junkyard at 76 Totter’s Lane, where they meet a brusque old man who calls himself the Doctor.

He denies knowing Susan and tries to send them away. Hearing Susan’s voice inside an old police box, the teachers push in and discover a vast, shining control room that is impossibly larger than the exterior. Susan reveals the police box is the TARDIS, a machine that travels through time and space, and that the Doctor is her grandfather. Afraid the teachers will expose them, the Doctor refuses to let them leave.

He activates the controls, and the TARDIS roars into motion with its wheezing groan. Ian and Barbara are thrown to the floor as the ship dematerialises. When the noise stops, the doors open onto a bleak, desolate landscape of sand and rock. A wind blows across strange, ancient ground. Unseen by the travellers, a shadow falls across the TARDIS, hinting that they have arrived in a dangerous past and that someone is watching.

Episode 2: The Cave of Skulls

The TARDIS carries the Doctor, Susan, Ian, and Barbara to the Stone Age, where a tribe seeks the secret of fire. Kal drags the Doctor before the tribe as proof he can make fire and promises power if they follow him. The rightful heir, Za, fears that without fire he will lose his place. The four travellers are tied and locked in the Cave of Skulls, a chamber of cracked skulls that warn of past killings.

Inside, fear and argument flare: the Doctor is impatient, Barbara is shaken but kind, Susan is frightened yet quick, and Ian tries to take the lead. Kal and Za compete for control, using the strangers as tools; the tribe argues whether fire will bring life or death. An old woman warns that fire brings monsters and tries to stop its making at any cost. Barbara steadies Susan, and Ian works on their bonds, shaping a simple plan.

The Doctor watches for an opening, warning against reckless moves tonight. Outside, the tribe prepares a test for Za; inside, the prisoners struggle to free themselves before dawn. As tensions rise, chance and courage open a path, and the four edge toward escape into the dark forest.

Episode 3: The Forest of Fear

Trapped in the Cave of Skulls, the travellers are secretly freed by the tribe’s Old Mother, who fears that making fire will change the people and bring death. She urges them to flee before Za can find them. Ian leads the shaken group through the dark forest while the Doctor, still weak, complains. Strange shapes and animal cries unsettle them, and Barbara briefly panics, but they push on.

Za and Hur track them. In the forest, a wild beast attacks Za and leaves him badly wounded. The travellers could escape, but Barbara insists they must help. Ian makes a rough stretcher; Susan fetches water; the Doctor grudgingly gives advice. Their kindness surprises Hur and softens Za’s pride. To save Za’s life, they decide to return him to the tribe, even though it means losing their chance of freedom.

Back at the camp, Kal sees an opportunity. He has killed the Old Mother and blames the strangers, claiming they brought evil and death. The tribe, frightened and angry, surround the travellers with stones and spears. Barbara pleads the truth; Ian tries to reason with them; the Doctor watches for a way out. The people choose Za’s recovery over justice, and the travellers are seized again as the cliffhanger falls.

Episode 4: The Firemaker

The Firemaker begins with the travellers still trapped by the Stone Age tribe. Kal has brought the body of the Old Woman and accuses Za of murder, hoping to take leadership. Ian examines the blood on Kal’s knife and shows it is from a boar, not a person, turning the tribe against Kal.

Later, Kal returns to the cave and fights Za; Za kills him and regains authority. The tribe demands fire. Ian demonstrates how to make it using friction and dry grass. With the flames lit, the tribe forces the Doctor, Susan, Barbara, and Ian to stay, wanting their new “firemakers” to hunt.

The travellers plan an escape. They disguise skulls with flaming torches so the cave guardians will think the dead are angry. The trick works: the tribe is frightened, and the four run into the forest, chased by hunters.

They reach the TARDIS and scramble inside while spears strike the doors. The ship dematerialises and the tribe watch as the blue box vanishes. Inside, the travellers catch their breath. They have escaped, but the Doctor warns they may not be safe. The TARDIS lands in a petrified forest, where unseen danger waits. A new menace approaches fast.

Themes

In summary, the travellers narrowly escape the Stone Age after helping the tribe learn to make fire and settle its leadership crisis. The TARDIS arrives in a dead forest where unseen radiation and a mysterious city lead straight into the next adventure for the Doctor, Susan, Ian, and Barbara.

As a beginning, An Unearthly Child is uneven yet unforgettable. The modern-day first episode is still ranked among the finest single half-hours of classic Doctor Who for its atmosphere, clarity, and the bold reveal of the TARDIS.

The caveman episodes are simpler and more theatrical, and many viewers rate them below later historical or science-fiction peaks. Even so, the serial’s historical importance, strong character beats, and distinctive opener lift it above many more polished stories that followed.

It also threads the programme’s past and future. Barbara and Ian’s humanism challenges the Doctor’s prickly pride, setting up a moral dialogue that shapes early Season 1 and returns across later eras.

The ethical puzzles of visiting history (when to help, when to step back) point toward The Aztecs and The Time Meddler, while the closing radiation warning leads directly into The Daleks. From this first flight the rhythm is set: wonder, danger, argument, mercy, then the wheeze-groan, and away to the next adventure.

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This is a chapter from Craig Hill’s book “Doctor Who – The First Doctor”, chronicling every episode featuring the First Doctor. It is available on Amazon.

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To view the list of other Doctor Who serials, please click this link

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